Contending with Tenant Job Loss
Picture the scene - you own an investment property and your tenant has lost his job.
What do you do?
I got this question often in the past few weeks - a sign of the times. Not only do we wonder how to get tenants into our properties, but now have to contend with tenants who’ve lost their job.
Losing a job is a tough one.
Normally, I might tell you how to handle situations where your tenants lost their job.
But what about the tenant’s perspective? As owners of property, we rarely see it from the tenant’s viewpoint.
As owners and landlords, you may have to speak with tenants dealing with job loss so it’s a good idea to understand things from their perspective. It’s also a good idea to know what to say in situations like this.
So, if you’re a tenant who lost a job…
First things first, you need to contact Mum and Dad. That’s probably not what anyone wants to hear, but you need to face reality right now. You need a place to live and maybe living with your parents can help for the time being.
Of course, you can also get together with friends to figure out a new living situation. But you do need to work with someone because you won’t have the income to pay rent anymore.
Remember that this stuff is temporary. It may be disheartening to deal with the realities of unemployment and the change in living situation, but it’s not forever. And it’s not the end of the world.
So, do yourself a favour and buy yourself some time.
Also, try getting into communication with your landlord.
I’ve heard and seen situations where people can’t afford to pay rent because they’ve lost their job, but they work something out with the landlord. It may be that instead of paying rent, they’ll do some maintenance work. Or they may pick up and drop off the kids at school.
These are simple things that a landlord may pay someone else to do, but you can do instead of paying rent. But you won’t know if you can come to an agreement unless you contact your landlord first.
If you’re an investor looking for new opportunities…